‘He Approved It’: Michael Cohen Directly Ties Fake Invoice Scheme to Trump in Pivotal Testimony

AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool

Former President Donald Trump was charged with allegedly falsifying business records in order to cover up a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Late Tuesday, his former lawyer Michael Cohen testified in court that Trump “approved” the scheme of fake payments.

On Cohen’s second day of questioning, prosecutors asked Cohen about several invoices that Trump’s former “fixer” stated were reimbursements for payments Cohen made to Daniels. Discussions about these invoices allegedly took place in January and February 2017 in the Oval Office after Trump took office. The New York Times‘ Jonah Bromwich reported:

Michael Cohen is now describing meeting with Trump in the Oval Office in February 2017. He says that Trump asked him if he needed money, and that he said no, he did not need any extra. He then said Trump asked him to “deal with Allen,” meaning [Allen Weisselberg], who had arranged the repayment plan for the hush money. Trump also said, Cohen testified, that he’d receive a check for both January and February.

Now, prosecutors have posted a picture of Cohen visiting the White House at the time. Jurors have already seen the picture — but now they know its import. At the meeting, Trump showed direct knowledge of the repayment plan, per Cohen’s testimony just now.

The Times‘ Maggie Haberman reported that further questioning revealed more details over the monthly invoices describing the payments:

He is going over the monthly invoices he created, which described him as having been paid for “services rendered,” and testifying that they were false records. He stresses they weren’t valid legal fees, but “reimbursements.”

Michael Cohen confirms that in response to the false invoices, he received 11 checks in 2017 totaling $420,000.

Cohen also testified that “the invoices he was sending, which he has sought to tie to Trump, were false documents.”

Just Security fellow Adam Klasfeld posted in a tweet that Cohen stated on the stand that Trump approved the reimbursement plan he described, telling prosecutors, “He approved it”:

Good morning from New York.

“He approved it.”

In three words, Michael Cohen tied Trump to this system of reimbursements—in a blink-and-you-might-miss-it line dropped just before trial adjourned.

Follow Trump’s team likely attempting to undermine it on cross today. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/gOYiPJPjDn

— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) May 14, 2024

Cohen also stated that he did not have a retainer agreement with Trump, which set up the need for Cohen to file invoices in order to receive payment. Despite not being officially retained as legal counsel, payments were classified as legal services: “Prosecutors are arguing that Trump’s sign-off on the repayment plan, along with his knowledge that Cohen would be falsely reimbursed for ‘legal services,’ indicates that he approved of what they say was a crime.”